Rotary explosive-engine.



J. M. NOVY. ROTARY BXPLOSIVE ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. s, 1911.

Patented Sept. 10, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

IVITNESSES.

J. M. NOVY. ROTARY EXPLOSIVE ENGTNE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 5, 1911.

Patented Sept. 10, 1912.

- 4 SHEBTSSHEET 3 WITNESSES; Q 4 M "/13. u

J. M. N'OVY.

ROTARY BXPLOSIVB ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.5,1911

Patented Sept. 10, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 lVITLVES-SES.

ATTORNEY.

80 recess turned from the observer;'Fig. .6 is

STATES AT nT OFFICE.

JOSEPH M. NOVY, .OF ST, LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Romany ExPLOSIVE-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 10, 1912- Application filed September 5, 1911. Serial No. 647;?53. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that I, J osnrH'M. Novr, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis,"State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in R- tary Explosive-Engines, of which thefolflowing is'a full, clear, and exact description, reference'being had to the accompany- 111 drawings, forming a part hereof.

y invention has re at ion to improve-- ments in rotary explosive en mes; and it consists in the novel details 0 construction more fully 1 t forth in the poir-ied out inthe claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 specification and is a front eleits'passage-way; Fig. 2 1s a combi'ned-edge z -.view and vertical cross-section onthe broken which will be practically devoid of dead I line 2 2 '0f Fig. 1; Fi 3'is a longitudinal elevation andsectiona detail on the line.

3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the blade of the rotary member advanced to correspond with the second position assumed by the rockvalve, or thatv position which allows the blade to pass; Fig.4 is an end view of the. rock-valve and' controlling spring therefor;-

Fig. 5 is a side view of the valve withits tion corresponding to Fig. 6, the sectionbe ing taken however, through the recess of the valve, the blade of the rotary member approaching the valve; Fig. 8 is a sectional detail on the order of Fig. 6, but with valve,

rocked to its full limit; and Fig. 9 is a sectional detail with the valve rocked to its "full limit, the section being taken however,

- through the recess of the valve, and the blade of the rotary member being shown as having passed the valve.

The object of my invention is to construct a rotary explosive engine, the piston ot which shall receive a series of impulses in the course of a single revolution, each pulse being identified with the explosion of a fixed charge of gas. 7

A further object is to construct an engine centers one'in which the explosion takesplace wholly without the cylinder in whichtion, positive in action, requiring no water cooling, and one possessing further and other advantages better apparent-from a de- 1 tailed description of the invention which is as follows Referring to the drawings, A, A, represent the two sections of the outer casing of the engine, being bolted together along an outer flange as well understood in the art, the section A having secured thereto a spider S and the section A='having cast; therewith a spider S'-, the' 'liubs'of the respective spiders serving} as bearin -for the crank-' s aft 1, and the-arms of t e spider S alter nating' with the cylinders 8 of the 00111- -pressor'pum s-"distributed about the section A as present yjto' be seems: The'parts thus jfar described are within the Skll]. of the ordinary mechanic and no further descriptionthereof is necessary.

A, A, and distributed about the outer edges Lthereof area series of (four in the present illustration) valve-casings 3 having'a slight taper (or cone-shaped) the axes of the casings being arallel to the axis of the crank shaft-L- ach valve-casing 3 is provided with a receiving or intake nozzle or port 4:- and an exhaust nozzle or port 5, the nozzle 4: having attached thereto a gas supply pipe 6 provided with a check-valve 7, the supply pipes 6 leading from a common source of gas supply (not shown)- The exhaust ports 5 discharge into the atmosphere, the intake ports 4: communicating each with the compression cylinder 8 which in the present construction is an open shell screwed to a leg a cast with the valve-casing. The piston 9 of the cylinder is in the present case provided with a leather lnged to each piston is a connecting rod or link 11, the outer ends of the several con necting rods being pivotally secured to the wrist-pin 12 between the crank-disks 13, 13, of the. crank-shaft.- Connections of-this character are well understood in the art/and requireno further description in this connection. The wrist-pin 12 extends a suitable distance beyond the outer crank disk or that which; is farther removed from the mot-orca-s1ng.A,'A', said wrist-pin extension car- {*Cast with the respectivecasing sections packing 10, and

rying a tappet roller is for a purpose presently-to appear.

Since each cylinder and valve mechanism of the series is the same, a description of one will serve to answer for all, and I will accordingly confine the balance of the de-.

rack-quadrant 17-,said quadrant operating as a lever whose short arm terminates in a taper or bevel d adapted to be struck by the roller tappet 14 with rotation of the shaft 1, and as the said lever-arm is struck, oscillation is imparted .to the quadrant through an. arc depending on the length of contact of th roller with the short lever arm thereof. The band- 15 is provided with a stop lug 18 for arresting the quadrant as the same is returned to its normal position.

Disposed on the inner surface of the outer arc of the quadrant is a rack 19 the teeth of which mesh with a pinion 20 mounted at the end of the spindle-21 of the rotary or rock-valve 22 mounted in the valve-casing 3, said spindle passing through the adjacent head 23 of. the casing, the opposite end of the casing being closed by ahead or plate 24 provided with a take-up screw 25 engaging the enlarged boss or trunnion26 formed on the adjacent .end of the valve. With any sweep of the quadrant in a given direction, rotation is imparted to the.valve 22, the

latter being returned to its original position (in which movement it of course drives back the quadrant to its original position) under the action of a coiled spring'27' interposed between the head 23 and a fiber disk 28. adjacent the small end of the valve, one end of the spring being secured to the spindle 21 and the other end to a pin 29 passing through the head 23.

Formed in the valve-casing 3 opposite the cylinder 8 is a discharge port 30 which, for a certain position of the valve 22 is in communication with the intake slot or end of a passage or chamber 31 formed in the valve, the discharge end of said passage being at a point removed approximately ninety degrees from the intake when measured around the valve, and at a suitable distance removed therefrom when measured along the length of the valve. The discharge end of the valve-passage is controlled by a spring check-valve 'v of any approved type, which discharge end is positioned'rearward of the basal wall of the recess R formed in the wide portion of the valve and located in the casing A, A.

Mounted in the engine casing A, A, and keyed to the shaft 1 is a rotatable member or piston composed of a series of flatblades valve 22 for the passage of the said blade,

the .valve being progressively turned so as to cause the outer edge of the blade to clear.

the basal wall of the recess, the curvature of which wall is substantially in conformity with the are described by the free edge of the blade. The advancing face of the blade is connected by a stiffening rib 36 having a curved edge, which rib besides serving as a stiffener may perform another function as presently-to be seen from a description of the operation of the engine which is as follows v Confining our attention to asingle cylinder 8 (because all the cylinders are alike) and assuming that the crank-shaft 1 and the member32, 33," keyed thereto, are given a turn contrary to the hands of a watch, it

will be seen that the rotation of the crankdisks 18 will impart a reciprocation to the piston 9. Directing our attention to thecylinder shown in section Fig. 1, and supplementing said figure with the illustrations shown in Figs. 6, 7 8, 9, it will be seen that with an upstroke of the piston, the explosive mixture will be drawn into the cylinder through port 4, and with a downstroke the charge will be compressed within the cylinder (the check-valve 7 preventing a return of the mixture through the pipe 6). The compression of the charge Wlll continue until the tappet roller is on the point of striking or engaging'the bevel end (Z of the short lever arm of the rack quadrant 17 by which time the piston has not yet reached its full downward or compression stroke. By the time thetappet roller has traversed what little arc remains to bring the piston to its full stroke, said tappet will have oscillated the quadrant 17 through an arc sufiicient to rock the valve 22 ninety degrees, that is to say to a position to bring the base of the recess R of the valve in continuity with the outer bounding wall of the annular chamber 34 (Figs. 1, 2, 3). This turn of the valve 22 allows the blade 35 which was approaching the valve to pass through or across the valve (dotted position Fig. 1). By the time the tappet is ready to leave the bevel d it will have imparted a further rotation to the valve in the same direction by which time however the blade 35 will be on the opposite side' of the valve, leaving between 1t and the blade 9, chamber 34' (Fig. 9) into which the explosive mixture is discharged (as presently to appear) and where it is-exploded. At the moment when the tappet 14. is about to trip the spring is not only .faces the' chamber leased into said chamber "on alt tion to the shaft 1.

quadrant 17 the gas has been compressed to a very small compass within the cylinder, but at that moment the port and the pas- Sage 31 of the Valve are still out of register, the valve not having as yet been moved or rocked from its normal position (Fig. 6). While in its normal position, the valve-controlled discharge end of the assage 31 is just within the chamber 34 Fig. 7); but the moment the valve is rocked by the inclpient oscillation of the quadrant the valve '0 passes out of the chamber 14 behind the valve-casing wall which thus prevents the valve from being unseated, and as the intake end of the passage or chamber 31 comes opposite the port 30, the highly compressed charge of gas is driven into the chamber of the valve whence it can not escape until released into the chamber 34 by the return of the valve to its normal position. Once the com ressed charge is thus confined or occluded in the valve chamber 31 it remains there until released. This release is effected as follows :-It will be remembered that by the time the tappet let passes off the bevel (Z of the quadrant, the blade will leave between it and the valve a chamber 34 (Fig. 9). During the rocking of the valve to allow theblade 35 to pass, the spring 27, is wound up, so that the moment the quadrant is released from the tappet 14, the free to rock the valve back to its normal position, but the valve being geared up to the quadrant as described, the quadrant will likewise oscillate back to-its original position (being arrested by the lug 18). The spring 27 being a a strong one, the return of the parts to normal position is practically instantaneous; but with the valve'22 rocked back to normal position, the base" of .its recess R is substantially'at right angles to the arc of rotation of the blade 35 so that the solid portion of the valve behind or opposite to the recess,

34, and the gases reare thus confined sides so that they can not escape. Obviously, the gases confined under great tension inthe valve-chamber 31 will instantlyescape past the check-valve 71 into the chamber 34 the moment the valve is thus returned to its original. or normal position, in which position the check-valve Q) will emerge from behind the casing wall in which the section of the valvebehind the recess is housed, it being understood that the entire periphery of that end of the valve not recessed (the narrow end contain. "ing the intake to the passage 31) is entirely surrounded by the metal of its casing By the time the'charge of gas is thus delivered to thechamber (or pocket) 34: the

charge is exploded and this blade thereby receives an impulse ,thus" imparting rota- There being four cylinders, it follows that the blade of the rotary member will receive four impulses with each revolution, the spent gases escaping through the exhaust ports 5. I have showrra socket m for the spark plug, but do not show the plug nor the electric wires, nor the means for closing the circuit at theproper moment, such devices being well known in the art, and it falling'within the purview of a skilled mechanic to attach thenn I do not of course wish to be limited to any number of cylinders.

It will be seen that the explosion taking place wholly without the cylinder, no injury can befall the leather piston packing and I can thus maintain a perfect piston joint. The vanes 01' ribs 32 act as fan blades and thus keep the engine cool, while the entire rotary member 32, 33, acts as a fly-wheel for the shaft 1. The engine may of course be started by hand after which it will propel itself.

It is of course true that in order to permit the compressed charge occluded within the valve-chamber 31 to discharge into the chamber 34', the outlet end of said passage controlled by the check-valve a must be presented to said chamber, and to do this, 'the intake end of the passage 31 must pass the port 30, during which interval it might be supposed that the charge would pass back into the cylinder, but'it must be noted that at this moment the piston is rising (by rising is meant the intake stroke of the piston) and drawing in gas through the port 4 for the next charge. It follows therefore that with gas in the cylinder, the charge compressed within the valve 22 will escape along the line of least resistance which will be into the empty chamber 34.

In the event the member 1'1 should break while the machine was running, then the curved rib 36 would engage the edge of the base of the valve recess R, and turn the valve to accord the blade free passage ast it. This is a special function subserve by the rib 36, serving as it does as an emergency member to actuate the valve should the rack and pinion device he put out of commission.

Features illustrated but not alluded to are well understood and require no detailed description.

Having claim is 1. In a rotary explosive'engine, a casing, a rotatable member within the same forming an annular chamber with the casing walls, a blade on the rotatable member traversing said chamber, a compressioncylinder having a reciprocating piston actuated by the rotatableniember, a chambered rock-valve interposed between the discharge from the cvlinder and the annular chamber :tfore described my invention, what I said, means interposed between the rockvalve and rotatable member for actuating the valve to proper position to cause the chamber thereof to receive the contents from the cylinder, means for permitting the confinement of the charge within the valvechamber for a definite arc of travel of the blade, and -means for efiecting a release of the confined charge into the annular chamber behind the blade preparatory to exploding the same. 4

rotatable member to a position to 2.111 a rotary-explosive engine, a casing,

a rotatable member within the same formture, in presence of means for effecting a release of the confined charge into the annular chamber behind the blade preparatory to exploding the same.

3. In a rotary explosive engine, a casing,

a rotatable member within the same formlng an annular chamber with the casing walls, a blade on the rotatable member traversing said chamber, a compression cylinder havin tatable mem er, a chambered rock-valve interposed between the discharge from the cylinder and the chamber, means for. rotating the valve and its chamber to receive the cona piston actuated by the rotents from the cylinder, means for permitting the confining of the charge within the valve-chamber for a definite arc of travel of the blade, and means for effecting the release of the confined charge into the annular chamber behind the blade preparatory to exv 1 ploding the same.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signatwo witnesses. JOSEPH M. 'NOVY. Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK,

J 0s. A. :HICHEL. 

